Interesting I also broke out from probiotic supplements, haven't tried them again in about a year and a half now, they gave me really bad breakouts. Interesting though for sure, I dont know how much I even trust the whole probiotic movement, kind of skeptic about it. I agree with Alexis I think the best thing to do is to have natural antibiotics to kill the bad bacteria which Im really sure most people with skin problems have..

I just started drinking baking soda with water after reading a lot about it and its amazing effects on keeping the body alkaline, make it impossible for bad bacteria overgrowth. Been washing my face with it too, Ive been having some red rashes around my nose and mouth that I think is peorial dermatitis and a lot of people have success with baking soda/lemon mix. Some do a mask but I find that too irritating and stripping of the acid mantle, so I just use about a teaspoon of baking soda then squirt in a half a lemon with water and wash my face with it, really like it my skin feels great.

Also for people who are talking about having gas, try taking away foods that ferment in the stomach, especially onions, been reading a lot over at the rosacea forum lately and a lot of them find big relief in redness/bloating and gas when removing onions. Could be a fructose thing as well which always seems to give me problems i keep my fructose really low.

I've been breaking out a bit from probiotics in the past. Now, I went on antibiotics about six weeks ago and started two fairly strong probiotics at the same time to protect my gut bacteria. I quit the antibiotics a week ago and have been continuing with the probiotics - and now I'm really breaking out. It's worse than before I started the antibiotics, so I'm wondering if it could be the probiotics doing this. Luckily the breakouts are superficial and aren't likely to scar (scarring from occasional breakouts was the reason I wanted to go on antibiotics to give myself a break), but I'd still like to stop them.

Is there any way to heal gut bacteria without using strong probiotics? I feel like I owe it to myself to continue with them as I've probably caused some damage with the antibiotics. Maybe I should cut it down to just one brand of probiotics a day and see if that helps.

Natural probiotics sound very interesting, although I wouldn't necessarily want to have yoghurt since I'm still trying to avoid too much dairy. What else is there, sauerkraut?

Oh, and as an aside. When I got the probiotics, the pharmacists continually told me there is no difference between a coated and a chewable product in terms of the effects. Which I found really astounding, since stomach acid should kill most of the bacteria in the non-coated chewable pills. I think it's very important to get probiotics in a coated capsule form that will protect the bacteria until they reach the intestines, but apparently you have to be well-informed yourself and not rely on what the pharmacists tell you.

Well dont automatically assume you did damage to your gut from a month of antibiotics. Damage most likely take place after years of antibiotics. To answer your question about healing the gut without probiotics, well thats what many of us hope a good diet does over time. Its still baffling to me though, like people on here who I know have been eating healthy strictly for literally years.. their gut must be healed and in great shape, which would mean their continued skin problems aren't gut related at all but adrenal and thyroid issues most likely.

Well dont automatically assume you did damage to your gut from a month of antibiotics. Damage most likely take place after years of antibiotics. To answer your question about healing the gut without probiotics, well thats what many of us hope a good diet does over time. Its still baffling to me though, like people on here who I know have been eating healthy strictly for literally years.. their gut must be healed and in great shape, which would mean their continued skin problems aren't gut related at all but adrenal and thyroid issues most likely.

You really don't think several weeks of antibiotics would harm the intestines? Usually antibiotics are prescribed for just a few days - except for acne - so I'm just very nervous about having taking them.

I've been eating relatively strictly for years too, although I've been very liberal with my carbohydrate amounts ever since low-carbing (I assume) caused me to have thyroid and adrenal issues a few years ago. Now I'm starting to wonder if I'm having too many carbs though, especially since my fasting glucose and glucose tolerance aren't the most ideal. Even though my diet has improved my skin and my digestion, it still hasn't cured my acne completely (far from it), so I assume there is still something 'wrong'. I haven't been eating that much bone broth or fermented foods though, so I don't know about my gut lining. I've now started making broth, and will possibly look into fermented foods like sauerkraut. And I'll also try to exercise / do IF to improve insulin sensitivity, in case that's an issue.

I started reading Healing Naturally by Bee website and the article about how probiotics are bad, but I have to say I find their articles very unscientific which turns me off. Maybe they are correct, but I wish they'd come up with a more scientifically convincing article. Anyway, I'll try to look into it more before actually forming an opinion. I already seem to be following most of their dietary advice anyway, except having more carbohydrates and starch/sugar than they recommend.

I dediced to stop the probiotics for a while, until this current breakout has healed. Then I may start taking them again, but I'm not sure yet.

this is all very interesting. I too feel that I break out from probiotics but I know my body needs them. Ive been taking a 50billion count by Renew labs every day for quite some time and it has not helped in the least. I also recently went thru stool testing which determined the permeability of my stomach. I have leaky gut and I also showed no growth of some of the beneficial bacteria our bodies need. I specifically showed no growth of the Lactobacillus species. Also found was under the additional bacteria section I had something called Providencia Alcalifaciens. These was amazing to me as I have been taking the probiotic for months, so why didnt it show any strains? I was told to bump it up even more but Im scared to break out again. I also have intolerance to soy so miso and I believe kimichi are out. Ive never tried kefir so I'm not sure about this. How do you make water kefir, where do you buy kefir and can it bought in a store like Whole Foods already made?

this is all very interesting. I too feel that I break out from probiotics but I know my body needs them. Ive been taking a 50billion count by Renew labs every day for quite some time and it has not helped in the least. I also recently went thru stool testing which determined the permeability of my stomach. I have leaky gut and I also showed no growth of some of the beneficial bacteria our bodies need. I specifically showed no growth of the Lactobacillus species. Also found was under the additional bacteria section I had something called Providencia Alcalifaciens. These was amazing to me as I have been taking the probiotic for months, so why didnt it show any strains? I was told to bump it up even more but Im scared to break out again. I also have intolerance to soy so miso and I believe kimichi are out. Ive never tried kefir so I'm not sure about this. How do you make water kefir, where do you buy kefir and can it bought in a store like Whole Foods already made?

Kimchi shouldn't have soy. And you can make your own to control what's in it.

Status: Clear after 30 years. Wow, I guess it's been 6 years, now.

[ Story: Severe Acne since I was 10. 10+ years of Dermatologists, Antibiotics, topicals and ACCUTANE did nothing. Discovered oranges triggered the worst of my cystic acne = about 70% improvement. Tried some nutrient supplements like B-complex with zinc and C, saw palmetto and a BHA like the aspirin mask = more improvement, a lot less oily. Then, Diet changes = Clear.

Regimen: Anti-inflammatory, nutrient dense, blood sugar stabilizing diet and supplements (for hormones, inflammation, aging, health). No soap or other cleanser except for hand washing! Water only or Oil cleanse. Aloe Vera mixed with niacinimide and a high linoleic acid oil for moisturizer and reduce pigmentation.

this is all very interesting. I too feel that I break out from probiotics but I know my body needs them. Ive been taking a 50billion count by Renew labs every day for quite some time and it has not helped in the least. I also recently went thru stool testing which determined the permeability of my stomach. I have leaky gut and I also showed no growth of some of the beneficial bacteria our bodies need. I specifically showed no growth of the Lactobacillus species. Also found was under the additional bacteria section I had something called Providencia Alcalifaciens. These was amazing to me as I have been taking the probiotic for months, so why didnt it show any strains? I was told to bump it up even more but Im scared to break out again. I also have intolerance to soy so miso and I believe kimichi are out. Ive never tried kefir so I'm not sure about this. How do you make water kefir, where do you buy kefir and can it bought in a store like Whole Foods already made?

It is surprising that after months of probiotics, it wouldn't show up in your test. How do you take the probiotic, if I may ask? I've heard that you are supposed to take it on an empty stomach and not eat for a couple hours afterwards. Which is rather difficult - I usually keep mine by my bed and take it some time during the night or early morning if I happen to wake up before getting up. Not sure if it makes a difference, but perhaps it's worth a try.

I started my probiotics again just so I could finish the bottle (that stuff was expensive). So far, I'm having some breakouts, but none that seems to compare to what happens when I drink water kefir. At this point, I'm thinking it's the intense amount of sugar and yeast in the kefir, but time will tell. I just can't bear to throw the bottle I have away. It cost way too much. So hopefully it will do something good for my body despite everything and I'm not just giving myself SIBO!

The reason I suspect the kefir being the problem is that when I first began taking it, I couldn't shit for days. That doesn't seem like a normal or healthy effect if you were truly drinking something good for your body. Yet when I added these pills on top of the kefir, I could use the restroom again. That makes me think that the pills alone could possibly do me good.

I've long since given up on any possibility of this clearing the skin, but I'm hoping for a continued boost in immunity. We'll see.

I started on probiotics about 2 weeks ago. 90 bil cultures (or whatever you call it), from the health store so I hope it's good quality stuff. Last week I had a mind-blowing breakout. My entire neck itched and was covered in rash-like small pimples. A few got inflamed because I couldn't leave them alone. Miserable! But I didn't stop the probiotics and now (knock wood) I think I am clearing up. I wonder if this was a "detox" and am praying that now I will start to see benefits!!

I've been taking probiotics for 2 days. When I started my face seemed to be on the road to recovery, yet this morning I woke up with 6-8 new lovely friends on my face! I will not take them tomorrow. Will I continue to breakout? Or will I clear up quickly?

I wonder whether people breaking out from them may be taking probiotics containing additional ingredients such as inulin/fructooligosaccharides. That would explain breakouts.

Probiotics on their own will mostly do nothing good or bad. That's because they are far too low dose. You need a much higher dose for them to work. Only one brand worked for me... and when it worked, it freakin' worked good!

It's what got me back interested in this forum because i'm now fascinated by all things to do with the microbiota!

I wonder whether people breaking out from them may be taking probiotics containing additional ingredients such as inulin/fructooligosaccharides. That would explain breakouts.

Probiotics on their own will mostly do nothing good or bad. That's because they are far too low dose. You need a much higher dose for them to work. Only one brand worked for me... and when it worked, it freakin' worked good!

It's what got me back interested in this forum because i'm now fascinated by all things to do with the microbiota!

The probiotics I took didn't have any of that stuff in it. Just curious, though, what is the brand that you take?

I wonder whether people breaking out from them may be taking probiotics containing additional ingredients such as inulin/fructooligosaccharides. That would explain breakouts.

Probiotics on their own will mostly do nothing good or bad. That's because they are far too low dose. You need a much higher dose for them to work. Only one brand worked for me... and when it worked, it freakin' worked good!

It's what got me back interested in this forum because i'm now fascinated by all things to do with the microbiota!

The probiotics I took didn't have any of that stuff in it. Just curious, though, what is the brand that you take?

A really high strength one I found called Elixa. It's a three day program in a little purple box. I'll do a sort of write-up/review on here after another week or so of observing the effects

Their website has alot of extra info on it if you're interested. It's best thing since sliced bread as far as i'm concerned

I wonder whether people breaking out from them may be taking probiotics containing additional ingredients such as inulin/fructooligosaccharides. That would explain breakouts.

Probiotics on their own will mostly do nothing good or bad. That's because they are far too low dose. You need a much higher dose for them to work. Only one brand worked for me... and when it worked, it freakin' worked good!

It's what got me back interested in this forum because i'm now fascinated by all things to do with the microbiota!

The probiotics I took didn't have any of that stuff in it. Just curious, though, what is the brand that you take?

A really high strength one I found called Elixa. It's a three day program in a little purple box. I'll do a sort of write-up/review on here after another week or so of observing the effects

Their website has alot of extra info on it if you're interested. It's best thing since sliced bread as far as i'm concerned

I'd love to read a write up about it. I just realized my probiotics have algae in them. Algae is very comedogenic and I've also heard that it can caused breakouts when consumed. There's not a lot of algae in it, but I wonder if that could have been the culprit.

Hey Paige,
I'm confident I've given this an extremely thorough trial since it has been atleast 10 weeks. Despite it recommending just to take it once, the positive results made me super motivated just to see how how i could really take it, or if there are diminishing returns.

I took about.. 4 boxes in the past 2 months, i'd say.. My skin is great. No seb derm anymore and my oiliness has gone from total oil slick to a barely noticeable (healthy looking) sheen. It's not dried out and it's not oily. It's just about perfect while i eat healthily and a little touch of oil when i eat greasy foods for a few meals in a row. I'm very happy. I look forward to seeing more out of this brand because it only seems to have popped up recently, atleast in my country... Website is www.elixa-probiotic.com or just google/ebay search elixa probiotic, if you want to read some of the more in-depth explanations. It's a purple box.

Hope it can help you. I'll come back and post another update if i remember in a few months because i'm going to get a couple boxes right now, before i go on travels. (Sorry, i'm in a rush!)